Restore My Faith
by SoffsG
Summary: "Piece by piece he restored my faith, that a man can be kind and a father should be great"
1. Broken Pieces

**Hello everyone, I hope everyone is doing well! I am back with a new story! With help from two of my best friends I was able to finish the first chapter of this story, so thank you Reina and Angel for your help! The idea came to mind when I heard "Piece by Piece" by Kelly Clarkson on my way to work one morning, I had set the idea aside but then I heard "She Used to Be Mine" by Sara Bareilles and I knew I had to start writing this story, needless to say this story is inspired by both of these beautiful songs.**

 **I don't own any of the Glee characters, just the characters I created as well as the plot!**

 **I hope you enjoy the first chapter!**

* * *

 _And then she'll get stuck and be scared  
Of the life that's inside her  
Growing stronger each day  
'Til it finally reminds her  
To fight just a little  
To bring back the fire in her eyes  
That's been gone but it used to be mine_

 _She used to be mine- Sara Bareilles_

Chapter 1- Broken Pieces

" _Funny how one night, one second, one decision can change your life forever"_

New York City, at last, Rachel Barbra Berry had made it this far and now there was nothing that would ever be able to stop the ambitious brunette. This was her home now, after spending all her life in Lima, Ohio she had made the biggest decision of her life thus far by separating from her dads to follow her dream, to become a Broadway star. She had been in the city for a little over a year and knew pretty much everything there was to know about the greatest city in the world. Except, she was practically alone. She didn't have close friends, the only people she knew were her classmates at NYADA who she loved but in no way had connections with outside of school. She liked to keep to herself and so far she was doing pretty great, after all her dad's had raised her to be independent and strong, yet Rachel was fragile in many ways she didn't know herself to be.

* * *

It was a beautiful summer day in New York City, Rachel loved to walk through Central Park admiring everything it had to offer, the calm of the morning air, the beautiful songs the birds would play, the smile of strangers just going through their day, it was her absolute favorite part of the city. That morning she had taken upon herself to go on a bike ride, yes she loved those too. She took the ride on her light pink bike with a gold star attached to the front wheel, stars are a metaphor. She had taken a break and sat down on the grass as she enjoyed her green juice when a random stranger suddenly sat by her, he had green eyes and light brown curly hair. He made small talk with her with the usual "What nice weather we are having." His name was Gabriel and from then on everything changed. They began by taking walks in the morning together, staying up to talk all night, to dinner dates and eventually moving in together.

Gabriel asked her to move in with him a year after they had met. They didn't want to take things too fast because after all they were still very young. Rachel and Gabriel were 20 years old, they were in the middle of their junior year in college and they had gotten accustomed to living together pretty fast. The apartment was a gift from his parents for graduating with honors and the highest GPA from his class; they wanted him to have a light load as he entered the college life. The pair worked a few hours after classes, nothing too crazy but enough for their necessities. They had talked about pretty much everything future related, moving to a better apartment, Broadway, and even children to complete the family she had always wanted, but everything at its given time.

Recently things started to get a little rough for them. Their communication suffered immensely from school stress and trying to make ends meet. As a result; arguments between themselves increased drastically within the last couple of months. A few days ago they both had gotten news that Mark, one of Gabriel's friend, found out that his girlfriend was pregnant. Rachel had always been in love with the idea of becoming a mother, but she could never imagine becoming a mother at that age, and so she felt a lot of sympathy for the couple as they were about to undergo an incredible change in their lives, however Gabriel had no sympathy towards their situation…

"I can't believe Mark would be so stupid, how can you be so irresponsible knowing that things like this can happen?" he said

"Well, all we can do is be there for them, they are going to need all the support they can get and they are our friends!" Rachel said sitting next to Gabriel

"No way. He got in this mess alone, he can do it alone. Unless they get rid of it, which is what I would do." Gabriel said, not measuring his own words before he spoke

Rachel immediately changed to gave him a look of shock after listening to what he said and her body shifted away from him with disbelief, where was this coming from?

"No baby, I, it would be different if it was us. But we are responsible and we know that right now is just not the time for that." he said taking her into his arms "I love you Rachel." He whispered as she tried to relax in his embrace and remember that he didn't mean what he had said.

* * *

One Tuesday afternoon Rachel was making dinner and waiting for Gabriel to get home from class. She suddenly began to feel lightheaded and the whole room seemed to be spinning around, she slowly lowered herself to the ground laying her heard against the kitchen counter, breathing in and out. "Oh my God" she said to herself pressing her hand against her chest feeling that her heart was beating incredibly fast. Suddenly a wave of nausea hit her as she quickly got up and made it just in time to the bathroom and emptied everything into the toilet. She sat in silence taking deep breaths to get her body back to normal.

"Rachel?" Gabriel called out her name as he came into the apartment seeing that there was food on the stove. He turned it off and walked towards their room.

"Rachel, where are you?" and suddenly he heard her as she began to get sick once again. He ran towards the bathroom seeing his girlfriend sitting on the floor, she was very pale. "Oh baby" he said as he rushed to the kitchen and poured water into a glass.

Rachel was weak after she had emptied her stomach, Gabriel kneeled on the ground and brought the cup close to her mouth as she took a sip of water and after laying her head on his chest in exhaustion.

"Baby, are you okay? Did you eat something bad?" He asked her helping her up from the floor.

"I don't think so" She said as she brushed her teeth.

Once she was done he took her in his arms and laid her down on their bed "You stay here and get some rest, I'll finish up in the kitchen" he kissed her and walked away. Rachel remained in bed, wondering what caused her to become sick all of the sudden. When she focused her vision on the calendar they kept on the wall. There was a red circle on a Monday… two weeks ago! She slowly sat up feeling sick once again.

"Oh no, no this cannot be happening." She said, her hands were shaking at the thoughts that came to her mind.

"We've used protection every time, we've been careful," she said, almost trying to convince herself of something she wasn't so sure of anymore. She then was taken back to that night a couple weeks ago where all she said to Gabriel was "I trust you."

"No, no, no what am I going to do?" she whispered as tears started to flood her eyes in realization of the mistake they had made that night.

Gabriel finished Dinner and made soup especially for Rachel, he grabbed a bottle of pills that were meant to help with nausea and made his way to their room seeing her curled up into a ball on her side of the bed.

"Feeling better?" he asked as he placed the tray in front of her

"A little" she responded as she gave him a faint smile.

"Do you want to try to eat?" he asked her as he wiped a tear from her eye and she shook her head.

In reality, she hadn't lost her appetite because she didn't feel well; she had lost it at the thought that inside of her there could be a life that she hadn't planned for, at least not yet.

She wasn't sure at what time she had fallen asleep, but when she woke up there was no one beside her, she walked into the living room to find a note from Gabriel

" _You looked so peaceful this morning I didn't want to wake you up, I hope you're feeling better gorgeous. I love you and I'll see you later"_

She smiled at the note and placed it back on the coffee table, and then a second wave of nausea came around as she ran once more to the bathroom.

Once she was sure she had nothing left to bring out she laid her head on the bathroom wall staring into space with worry. She needed answers, she needed to know if she was pregnant or not so she quickly got back up brushed her teeth and showered.

About 10 minutes later she left the apartment to the nearest pharmacy. When she walked in she passed by a woman with a beautiful baby girl in her arms.

"Good morning" the woman greeted

"Uh, good morning." Rachel responded as she smiled nervously and kept on walking. Seeing that child stirred within her a realm of possibility that she had not realistically considered before. She herself could be holding child just as gorgeous, and her own!

Setting aside the thought, she quickly found the isle and suddenly became overwhelmed. There were so many options of tests she could choose from, a variety of boxes that were all meant for the same thing and she was sure she looked completely lost. She picked up a box, it read _"No Brands MORE Accurate, Clear blue, digital pregnancy test"_ Then she looked at another _"First response pregnancy, early result pregnancy test."_ She was so overwhelmed and lost in the sea of options that she jumped at someone's voice behind her.

"I'm sorry ma'am, didn't mean to startle you, do you need any help" the pharmacist asked Rachel

"Y-yes please" Rachel said giving the pharmacist a look of desperation. The pharmacist alleviated the tension and gave Rachel the second box she had looked at, and she was ready to head over to the apartment for the moment of truth.

As Rachel walked home a million things came to her mind, school, future, her boyfriend… They didn't want kids, at least not yet, they weren't ready for this and she wasn't sure how he would react if she were to be pregnant. She arrived at the apartment, grabbed the box and made her way to the bathroom. She read and followed the instructions, three minutes was all it was going to take for her to find out if their lives would be changed forever. She placed both her hands on her stomach as she tried to breath in and out slowly to control the anxiety reigning over her.

 _Beep beep beep,_ She jumped at the sound of the stopwatch she had set on her phone. Before reaching to grab the test she swallowed hard

"Okay, Rachel just look at it then we will go from there." she said to herself. She reached for the test with her shaking hand, looked at the two lines in the results window. A huge sob escaped her mouth followed by more she couldn't control.

"What am I going to do?!" she thought as she slowly fell to the ground bringing her head in between her legs as tears fell onto the carpet

She looked down and touched her stomach; she had never been so scared in her entire life, knowing now that there was a life inside of her that she was now responsible for.

Hours had passed, in those hours she had thought about how she was going to break the news to Gabriel. She was sitting on the couch watching TV, well not really watching, more like staring at the screen while thinking about every possible way this could go; good or incredibly horrible. She remembered the conversation they had about Mark and his girlfriend and how she was completely terrified at what he said. Gabriel walked in as he saw Rachel completely lost.

"Rachel, earth to Rachel!" as he came closer to her

"Oh, hi" she said, not making eye contact

"Hey baby, feeling better?" he asked her bringing her into his arms

"Yeah" as she felt tears flood her eyes, but quickly changed the subject. She wasn't ready to tell him, but would she ever be?

* * *

Two days went by, it was now Friday; she was acting differently. She wouldn't talk as much, she was always tired, her appetite was barely there, if there at all and Gabriel became concerned at that fact.

"It's trash night, can you go get the one from the bathroom? I forgot to get it" she asked Gabriel

"Sure thing" he walked over to the bathroom, under the sink is where they kept the trash bags for the garbage can and so he opened it noticing a pink box, he picked it up as it read _"First response pregnancy, early result pregnancy test"_ He noticed the box was already opened so he took a look inside grabbing one of the pregnancy tests, he saw there were two line on the little window so he flipped the box over to read the instructions and he felt his heart drop to the floor.

"RACHEL!" he yelled as he walked towards the kitchen trying to remain calm at what he had discovered

"What is this?!" as he moved closer to her. Not hearing an answer he repeated himself in a much less friendly tone.

"I, it's a pregnancy test" she stuttered, as she had no words to begin to try to rationally talk. He had never spoken to her in this tone, it terrified her.

"I know what it is, I'm not stupid" he answered "What the fuck Rachel, you're pregnant and you didn't think to tell me?! He yelled in complete anger.

"I just found out two days ago" she explained trying to remain calm and trying to reason why he would speak to her as he was.

"Really, two days ago? Oh" he suddenly realized that's why she has been so quiet and different

He nodded "It's okay, tomorrow morning we will resolve this little problem and we'll go back to normal baby, don't worry" he said as he attempted to resume his usually gentle composure and hug her.

Rachel gave him a look of confusion "What?" as she moved back and avoided his embrace. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on Rachel, you understand me perfectly, we're not ready for a baby, I don't want a baby" he tried smiling, tried reminding her he was good, but she didn't buy it.

She began to cry at the words that were coming out of his mouth "And you think I wanted for this to happen? Do you think I planned this?!"

"This is your fault, I knew it was a bad idea to go on that night" he yelled.

"You knew it was a bad idea? So if you knew it was a bad idea why did you continue?!" she said to him with tears filling her eyes.

"You told me to continue Rachel" he walked away from her in anger.

"But like I said we will resolve this problem tomorrow morning and we can go on as this never happened" he started to type onto his phone _"Nearest abortion clinic."_

Rachel took the phone away from as she read what had been typed.

"No" she shook her head "You are not killing my baby" placing her hands over her stomach as a sign of protection. 'my baby' she thought, she wasn't sure before but now seeing Gabriel like this, she was certain that she wouldn't let a bad thing happen to her baby. She would defend it from whomever.

"Your? It takes two to make a baby so my decision on getting rid of it should count; I have as much rights as you do over that thing."

The words ached in her heart…. That thing

"No you do not, it's my body, I'm carrying our baby"

"Rachel we are 20 years old, we go to school! Our small jobs aren't going to cut it! There's no option here!"

Rachel couldn't believe this was the man she had fallen in love with, what happened to the loving sweet guy she had fallen for? She was scared for her life but more for the life inside of her.

"I'm not letting you kill my baby" she yelled at him sobbing "We can figure this out!" She begged .

"We won't figure anything out!" He yelled "I want no part in this unless it's to get rid of it!"

She fell to the ground as pain quickly made it to her heart and feeling like it had broken every bit of her.

"I'm not, I won't" she said quietly looking up at him as he was hovering on top of her.

He quickly grabbed her and led her to their room.

"What are you doing?" She asked him in fear trying to loosen his grip on her arm.

"I want nothing to do with this, absolutely nothing; I told you already if you're not willing to get rid of it I don't want anything to do with you either. I'm going out for some air when I come back I swear to everything Rachel you better be gone" as he walked away from her.

She fell to the ground once again and let everything out "He wouldn't do this" she tried to tell herself. He couldn't, he loved her! She trusted him and she knew he was just as scared as she was. She knew he would come back, apologize, and they'd make up. He wouldn't ask for her to harm an innocent child, their child. She didn't follow his orders in hopes that he would come back and had thought things over, and that they could actually talk this out. She had stayed in their room sitting on their bed trying to control her emotions when she heard the apartment door open. She stood from the bed as her heart started to beat faster and faster.

"I told you I didn't want to see you here!" he yelled.

"Please! Let's just talk!" she begged trying to reason with him and holding on to her last shreds of hope.

"We already talked, Rachel you have five minutes to get your stuff and get out of my house" he spat.

"Gabriel, please I have nowhere to go" she cried out realizing it was true, she had no one and nothing.

"Well that's not my problem, I suggest you hurry up before I lose my last bit of patience with you" he walked out.

She walked over and grabbed her suitcase in which she started to pack everything she owned, she tried to do this as fast as she could but she was terrified as it was late and had no one to turn to. Fear was in every part of her body. How was this happening?

She heard footsteps come closer and her heart started to race again.

"Are you done?!"

"I can't leave, I don't know anyone"

"For the millionth time that's not my freaking problem, we're done here" as he tried to grab her and she moved back, this action only made him angrier, he grabbed her by her arm as she used the other to protect her baby

"No, please! You're hurting me!" She cried

"Forget I ever existed to you" as he pushed her and her belongings out and slamming the door

She curled herself into the corner and let out a few loud sobs and being unable to breathe correctly by them. What was she going to do? She had absolutely no one in New York, the only person she knew was Gabriel and he didn't want anything to do with her or the baby.

Where do I go? She thought to herself. She had strength to get up and she walked outside of the apartment building still letting out tears, her cries still came in so hard and breathing in the cool air was getting harder as she walked with absolutely no direction, it was dark and cool and she was scared, terrified. She accidently bumped into someone while trying to get her thoughts together.

"I'm sorry" a tall man apologized.

Rachel sniffled "I'm, I'm sorry"

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he noticed the girl's swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks

"I-I'm" she began to feel dizzy, everything around her was spinning and closing in on her fast as she quickly tried to hold on to his arm but it was too late and everything went black.

The tall man caught her in his arms before she had the chance to hit the ground "Someone call 911"

"Hey… uh" he saw the tiny necklace that read 'Rachel' around her neck

"Rachel can you hear me?" he was captivated by her beauty and all he wondered was what could have happened to her that she looked so broken in his arms.

* * *

Once arriving at the hospital, he was asked a million questions but all he wanted to know was if she was okay.

"Are you related to the girl" the nurse asked him.

He knew if he said no that would ruin all the chances of ever seeing her but more important the chances of knowing if she was okay.

"She's, uh she's my girlfriend."

"Very well come with me." She responded, slightly concerned from his hesitation.

The nurse lead him towards Rachel's room. When he walked in he saw her lying on the big hospital bed, she looked so tiny. The lights were dimmed, the room was quiet, and the only sound was a quiet beep that went along with her heartbeat. There was a chair next to her bed so he took a seat admiring the pretty girl that was sleeping in front of him, her hair was brown and long, she smelled like roses and as crazy as it may sound, something about her told him she needed someone, she needed him.

She slightly moved her head as her eyes began to flutter open.

"Hi" he said giving her a smile to assure her that she was safe

She looked around the room, sleepy, disoriented and scared, she placed her hand on her stomach and fell back to sleep.

He heard a knock on the door "Come in" he said quietly, making sure she didn't wake up.

"Hi, my name is Dr. Montgomery, I'm your girlfriends OB-GYN" she said shaking his hand.

"Rachel and the baby are okay!" Dr. Montgomery said

"Baby?" he was caught by surprise as he looked back at her

"Her blood pressure dropped which is what caused her to collapse; she is also dehydrated so we are giving her fluids to help with that."

He kept his focus on the girl who he had just met.

"Has she been under any stress lately?"

He looked at her and didn't know how to answer, he didn't know her or her situation all he knew was her name.

"I strongly suggest she tried to avoid stressful situations, it isn't good for her or the baby, she needs plenty of rest, I'll be back later on to check on her, but for now everything is fine, congratulations" she smiled and walked away.

He smiled back and once she had walked out he went back to sit next to her, putting his focus on the hand she had placed on her stomach… on her baby.

So many thoughts started to flood his mind as he saw tears were coming out of her closed eyes. He started to wonder if she was in pain or was she having a bad dream, with his thumb he brushed the tear away and her eyelid fluttered slightly open.

He just looked at her as her eyes traveled everywhere, not knowing where she was or what happened, she took her hand and tried to pull the tube from her nose which was providing her with oxygen.

"Oh, hey, no." he said as he gently took her hand away from it "You have to keep that there."

She looked at him, "My baby!" Was the first thing she said, with worry in her voice.

"Hey, it's okay, you're okay and your baby is okay" as he stood to press the call button on the remote.

The nurse came in "Welcome back" she said.

"What happened?" Rachel asked confused as Dr. Montgomery walked in.

"Hi Rachel, I'm Dr. Montgomery your OB-GYN, you're okay and the baby is okay. I explained to your boyfriend that you collapsed due to low blood pressure and you are also dehydrated."

Rachel looked at her "Boyfriend."

"Have you been under any stress lately?" Dr. Montgomery asked.

Rachel looked around the room avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.

"Take it slow, stress can have many effects not only on you but on your baby and I'm sure your boyfriend wants both of you to be okay, you need plenty of rest and a stress free environment"

Rachel knew that was impossible, she was alone with nowhere to go, her priority was her baby now, but she didn't know what she was going to do, panic began setting in again. She looked at this stranger who had stayed with her to make sure that she and her baby were okay, tears started to flood her eyes and he looked at her having no words to say.

"We're going to keep you overnight just to monitor both of you and make sure that everything is okay, but you should be good to go in the morning, oh and you are more than welcome to stay with her" Dr. Montgomery said looking at the man sitting next to her placing her hand on top of Rachel's "You get some rest now" as she smiled and walked away.

Rachel finally let herself cry and let out all the pain she was feeling, he looked at her and his heart ached because one, she looked so hurt and he had no idea why and two because if it wasn't for him God only knows how things would of went when she fainted… would she be alone?

A couple minutes later after crying out everything she felt she started to drift off.

"It will be okay" he whispered to her.

Sleepy she asked "Who, who are you?"

"My name is Finn, Finn Hudson" he said offering her a friendly smile.

"F-Finn" she said quietly falling into a deep sleep.

He stayed with her for 5 minutes until he noticed he had 5 missed calls from his mother who had told him she would call that night.

"I'll be right back" he said to the sleeping girl.

He walked out closing the door very gently behind him.

"Hi mom" he Facetimed her.

"Hi honey, you haven't answered my calls I was worried… Finn are you at the hospital?

"I am, but I'm okay, it's a long story and I promise I'll explain later, I'm okay but I have to go" He said to her quietly as the floor was very quiet and the only people there were a couple of nurses.

"Okay honey, take care okay?"

"I love you ma" he said as he hung up.

He went back to the room sitting down next to her, he watched her sleep with her hands on her tummy, he could tell she loved her baby. Finn knew this was out of line, he had absolutely no idea why he was still there, she was a stranger so why did he feel the need to protect her?

"Where's your father?" he thought to himself as he looked at her hands and getting comfortable on the chair.

"Does he know you and your mommy are here? Does he love you the way I can tell your mommy does?" he shook his head falling asleep

He had made assumptions that whoever the baby's father was didn't want the responsibility "Why would he leave you on your own?"

Almost asleep the last words to come out of his mouth were "I-I'll take care of you"


	2. You'll Never Be Alone Again

**A/N: Well hello there! I'm back, it's been a while! I hope everyone is doing well. I tried to update as soon as I published my first chapter but that didn't quite work out well, part of the reason why it took so long to update was because my computer decided to crash and so I had to wait for someone to fix it in order to finish the chapter! and now it's finally done! Once again I'd like to thank my amazing best friend for reading and editing the chapter.**

 **You know the drill, I don't own Glee, just the plot and future characters to come!**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 2- You'll never be alone again

 _I want you to dream in fields of flowers  
And know that you're not alone  
Soon come morning hours  
The sweetest winds will blow_

 _Worlds apart- Joshua Radin_

On that very same chair right next to the sleeping mommy to be, he fell into a deep sleep. He was exhausted and he was sure days had passed without him getting any sleep, or at least that's how it felt. Next to him Rachel started to open her eyes, only to meet the darkness of the room along with the overwhelming silence. The only sounds were the monitors and Finn's light snores, she looked around and suddenly felt fear take over her whole body. Her heartbeat started to rise, as she tried to control the emotions that were taking her over. She closed her eyes, but the only images she saw were the ones from that night, Gabriel's yells. It was like she was trying to get away from the events of that night but they wouldn't leave her alone. She felt like everything was closing in on her and breathing became harder for her, she wanted to run, she wanted to escape the dark room that was only making her realize just how lonely and scared she was. On her right arm an IV and wires were connecting her body to monitors, but at the moment she didn't care, she needed to breathe, she needed the freedom and so she began getting up, taking everything with her.

At that moment Finn started to become aware of what was happening around him, he opened his eyes to see Rachel struggling with the wires, gasping for air and letting out sob after sob, it didn't take him long to become fully alert and rush to her side.

"Easy, easy you're going to hurt yourself" he quietly said as he gently grasped her wrist to stop her from touching anything.

"Rachel, you need to lay down" he explained as she tried to get away from his arms, which were now around her trying to bring some type of comfort to her pain. She didn't say anything, she only kept struggling to breathe and cry, Finn became worried at the sight, especially when he met those beautiful brown eyes, those eyes that were screaming for some type of aide.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" he tried to ask as he managed to get her to lay down, well more like to curl up into a ball where it just become even harder for her to breath. Finn was now really worried, he pressed the call button over and over until a nurse came rushing in.

"What's wrong?" she said as Finn gave her space "I don't know, I woke up and she was trying to get up but she was panicking and she won't talk" he tried to explain as best he could, but he wasn't sure of what was happening.

"Honey, sweet heart, can you look at me?" as she tried to get Rachel to lay flat on her back so that breathing could become a little easier for her

"I need you to slow down" as she made sure the monitors were reading correctly.

"I-I, I won't kill my baby" Rachel said as she kept on gasping for air, her sudden spoken words became a sign of concern for the nurse as she looked over at Finn.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to step out" Finn was shocked at the sudden request, "Is she okay?" he asked not wanting to leave her side.

A male nurse approached the room as Finn looked over at him "Sir come with me" he suggested

"No, Finn, please don't leave" she cried out almost in agony. Finn couldn't take seeing her in distress so he ran to her side "I'm not leaving, I'm here, can you try to breathe slowly?" as he ran his fingers through her hair, she never took her sight off the man she was beginning to trust.

A couple minutes had passed, the nurse had made sure the monitors were reading everything correctly and that her IV was still in her arm. He was still standing right next to her, caressing her hair, her eyes still focused on him, only now they were getting heavier by the second and Finn could tell she was fighting her sleep.

"Shhh, You're okay, close your eyes" he whispered to her, and it was all she needed, almost like a reassurance as he watched her eyes open and close one last time before she finally fell back to sleep.

Finn stayed next to her for a couple more minutes until he was sure she was asleep, then he quietly made his way to the couch, sitting down and letting out a sigh at how intense that had been. He refused to lie down on the couch, part of it because a 6'3 man can't possibly fit into the tiny hospital couches, at least enough to become comfortable, but mostly because he was afraid that she would wake up again. But the exhaustion once again took over him and he gave in to sleep.

 _You can do it honey, one more push…. And there was a strong cry that filled the whole room. Here she is, a beautiful baby girl as the nurse placed the tiny blessing into Finn's sister's arms. Finn was in awe of what he had witness, life being brought into the world and he was now madly in love. Sienna Alice Hudson, his sister whispered as she placed the softest of kisses on her baby's forehead. She looked over at Finn and she gave him a sign to grab the beautiful baby and so he did, he looked at her and from that moment on, they became the most important people in his life._

"Veronica" he suddenly woke calling his sisters name, only to see Rachel sound asleep. He sat up as he began to recall the dream, and recall everything his sister had gone through that now seemed like the same situation Rachel was going through.

Those events are what had led Finn to be such a strong father figure in the life of his beautiful niece, and he believed it was now what was keeping him from walking away from the girl and her baby. He didn't have the heart to walk out on them, because what if his sister didn't have anyone, what would have happened to them. He quietly got up and walked slowly towards Rachel, he looked at her, so peaceful.

God she was so beautiful, "No Finn, what are you doing?" he said to himself, but he couldn't lie, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, even with those sad eyes, they were still beautiful, he could tell that they were once full of love. The anger in him to realize there was someone out there who should be taking care of them and just decided to give up. He wasn't going to, not for the sake of her and her baby, he would find some way to help both of them.

* * *

The light of day started to creep in, it was about 7:00 am when he was woken up by the sound of the door opening and footsteps approaching.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hudson, I didn't mean to wake you" the nurse apologized as she checked on Rachel who was thankfully still sleeping.

"No worries" he said letting out a yawn

"You've been here all night haven't you?" she asked with a slight smile "She's okay here if you want to go freshen up" she suggested

"Thank you, but I don't want her to wake up alone" he stated as Dr. Montgomery entered the room making her morning rounds.

"Good Morning" she said with a friendly smile

"How did we sleep?" she asked, Finn didn't quite know how to explain last night "I know, she's okay" she nodded

"I'm going to do a checkup, do you mind stepping out?" she asked him politely

"Is everything okay?" he asked in concern

"She should be, we just want to make sure" and so Finn left the room to sit on a chair in the small waiting room.

Dr. Montgomery checked her vitals and the fluids that were being administered. Rachel slowly began to open her eyes only to meet the face of her doctor, she looked around the room, she was looking for him and she panicked at the thought that he had left. Dr. Montgomery noticed her sudden change, and she also knew who she was looking for.

"He's here, I needed to check up on you so I asked him to step out for a minute" she said reassuring her that he hadn't left. Rachel let out a sigh of relief.

"Rachel, are aware of what happened last night?" Dr. Montgomery asked as she sat on the hospital bed facing Rachel.

Rachel was confused at first, aware of what? That her boyfriend had left her and her baby to their luck? Dr. Montgomery saw the confusion.

"Last night, you had an anxiety attack, and in the midst of it you yelled that you wouldn't kill your baby. Your boyfriend… is he forcing you into doing something you don't want to do?" She asked Rachel as she watched tears build up in her eyes. All Rachel could think of were Gabriel's words and the way he yelled.

"Rachel, I need to know so we can help you, I won't let him come near you if that is what you want" she said.

Rachel knew she couldn't go on with the lie that Finn was her boyfriend, but she was scared they would make him leave.

"He- he's not my boyfriend" Rachel whispered "I met him last night, he brought me here" Dr. Montgomery tried to put all the pieces together

"He's not related to you?" she asked, Rachel only shook her head, Dr. Montgomery called a nurse into the room "Call security" she quietly said, but didn't realize it was loud enough for Rachel to hear "What?" Rachel asked with a look of concern on her face.

"Rachel, he lied to us about who he was, this can be dangerous" Dr. Montgomery said "No, no please, I don't have anyone, please don't make him leave" she begged in tears "Please" Dr. Montgomery saw the need and pain in her eyes, she knew if she said no this could be something that could potentially hurt her and the baby.

"Okay, Rachel I won't call, but you need to calm down okay" Rachel nodded as she slid down on the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'll be back in a little bit to make sure everything is set for you to go home" Rachel's eyes were wide open at the realization that she in fact she didn't have a home anymore.

"Can you please get Finn" she quietly asked.

"Sure, I'll tell him to come in" as Dr. Montgomery walked out of the room.

"Is everything okay?" the nurse asked her "Yeah, at least I hope so, have you seen Mr. Hudson?" as the nurse pointed towards the direction where Finn sat waiting.

Finn saw the Doctor approaching and so he stood from the seat "Is she okay?" he asked in worry

"She's okay, physically" she stated as she invited Finn to take a seat.

"She told me the truth, that you're not her boyfriend" Finn looked down to his shoes without a word to say.

"Why did you tell us you were?" she asked him, Finn looked at her.

"I'm really not sure, well I think I know, my sister, she was in the same situation. A baby, a boyfriend who left her… it hurt to know there was someone going through the same thing, I didn't want to leave her alone because I know what that feels like, she's scared and hurt I wanted to help her and I knew if I said I didn't know her I would never get to see her again" he was honest.

"Mr. Hudson" he interrupted "You can call me Finn" Dr. Montgomery nodded "Finn, this is serious, she told me she had no one, she's really hurt and scared, she needs help from people that will bring her support, we know places that can bring her that" Finn shook his head "No, I want to help her" "Finn, it's her choice, by law we have to provide these choices to her, and you're free to offer your help, but it is her choice, she wants to see you" Dr. Montgomery smiled "I'll be there in a bit to discuss further actions."

Finn quickly made his way to Rachel's room, slowly opening the room, she was laying on her side, back towards him and he thought she was asleep. He walked towards her.

"Hi" he whispered as he saw her awake, Rachel gave him a slight smile "Hi."

"How are you feeling?" he asked sitting on the chair next to her.

"I don't know" she honestly answered.

"It's okay, It'll be okay" As Dr. Montgomery knocked on the door and walked in.

"Okay, Mommy and baby are free to go, but before we need to schedule an appointment for a routine checkup. Rachel, we can help you, you don't have to this alone" she walked closer to her.

"Before you leave, someone would like to come and speak to you about different people and places that can be a help to you" Rachel looked back at Finn, Finn blinked twice and gave her smile and Rachel only nodded.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you soon" Rachel was overwhelmed, she never in a million years would have imagined herself in this position, and she couldn't help the fear she felt.

"Look, I know we don't know each other, and I may be crossing the line but I would like to offer you my help" Rachel kept her focus on him. "My sister, she went through the same thing you are going through, I know how you feel, I have a room in my apartment, let me help you" he sincerely asked her.

"and if you don't feel comfortable I'll take you to one of the places where they can help you and your baby, I promise I'm harmless" Rachel saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"Thank you" she said tears filling her eyes, Finn reached his hand to wipe them off her eyes "everything will be okay."

Rachel got ready to leave the hospital, the person she had a meeting with came in and discussed all of her options, and she felt relieved that there were different people that could help her, she felt like she could do this even though she was still terrified. The meeting was over and she had a lot of thinking to do.

"You okay?" he asked her, Rachel nodded "Yeah, just overwhelmed."

"I know, it's a lot, you can do this" he smiled "Ready to go?" "Yes, thank you Finn" she smiled back.

* * *

They took a cab home, well to Finn's apartment, they finally got there and she was nervous. He opened the door to his apartment only to reveal the most organized place she had ever seen, she was greeted by the jumps and tail wags of a puppy, a tiny beagle "That's Max, my trusty companion" Finn laughed, Rachel bent down and tried to pet him but he was a little too excited with her, she smiled, she smiled big and it was the first time Finn saw a smile full of happiness.

"Alright Max, settle down" he laughed again.

"This is my home, and yours for as long as you need" Rachel looked around as she focused on a picture frame, Finn holding a baby.

"That's Sienna, my niece" Rachel looked at Finn "She's beautiful" she said as Finn handed her the frame, Rachel looked at the baby, in roughly nine months there will be a baby in her arms, all hers, brought up with all her love.

"She's much bigger now, three years old" Finn laughed handing her another frame of Sienna in a Cinderella gown in Disney world.

"She seems like she has lots of energy" Rachel laughed "Oh believe me she does" as he placed the frame back on the shelf. "Come on, I'll show you to your room."

When he opened the door, the first thing that Rachel laid he eyes on was on the small frame hanging on the wall above the frame of the bed " _Lights will guide you home"_ The room was a pastel yellow color, the sheets were white, there was a TV in the room, the room smelled fresh and it was a crazy feeling to her, but she somewhat felt more calmed here then she had the last few days with Gabriel.

"That door is the closet and the other is the bathroom, there's fresh towels inside as well as new toothbrushes, soap and all of that good stuff" he smiled.

"I also have extra pillows in the closet outside, if you would like."

Shyly she said "No, it's okay, thank you."

"Okay well make yourself comfortable" Finn looked at his watch 10:00am.

"I'm sure you're hungry so I'll make breakfast, you're safe here" Max barked "You see he aggress with me too, come on Max let's go make breakfast" as the small beagle followed him out of Rachel's room.

She took a deep breath and let it out, sitting on the bed and taking a look around once again. She grabbed her cell phone out of her bag, a picture of her and Gabriel popped up and her stomach turned at the memories. The picture was from a couple weeks ago, they were sitting in their favorite spot in central park, all smiled and happiness, and love, or at least the love she thought he had for her. A single tear dropped on the screen as she locked it and put if off to the side. All she wanted was for everything to be different to be home with the man she loved, yes even though he had left she loved him still and that's what hurt her the most. She wanted him to be the one making her breakfast, the one looking out for her and the wellbeing of their baby, but instead, a stranger had cared more than Gabriel ever would and she didn't know when the pain would stop.

"Mommys here, all you need is me and all I need is you, we'll get through it, I promise" she said gently rubbing her stomach.

It was a new beginning, she tried to reassure herself everything would be fine but it only lasted for moments before the fear took over once again. Finn knocked on her door as she told him to come in "Breakfast is ready" he announced.

"I'm not really hungry" she looked up at him and he could tell she had been crying, he walked towards her sitting next to her.

"I know, but you've wasted a lot of energy and I think someone needs that energy to grow strong and healthy" Rachel knew he meant well, not only that but it was true, she had to take care of herself.

"Okay" she said as she stood making her way towards the kitchen.

Oatmeal with sliced of banana sprinkled with a bit of honey, it looked yummy but then she caught the smell of the bacon and her stomach told her otherwise, she ran towards her room as Finn ran behind her, she was already on the floor, Finn pulled her hair back, he knew it may be overstepping, but the instinct took over to rub her back, there were tears streaming down her face, once she was sure there was nothing else she sat up trying to breath and control herself, Finn handed her tissues.

"How do you feel?" he asked her, probably a stupid question because she most likely felt awful.

"The room is spinning" she said quietly.

"Put your head between your legs, it will help" he said as he got up and ran to the kitchen to get some water, when he came back her head was laying against the wall and her eyes were closed, he was sure she had passed out until her eyes fluttered open.

"This may help" as she grabbed the glass of water and took a sip of it "I think I'm okay" Finn helped her up and she brushed her teeth, after she was done he helped her to her bed.

"Do you want to try and have oatmeal?" She didn't want to see food at the moment, but she was hungry and she had to eat something eventually, so she nodded and Finn brought her the bowl of oatmeal. She ate almost half of it, better than nothing.

"Feeling better?" Finn asked standing on the doorway as Max jumped on Rachel's bed.

"No, Max!" he tried to stop him but that didn't work "It's okay, I like Max" she smiled "I'm feeling a lot better, thank you"

"Well, I have to go out and get some things done, you could come with if you'd like?" The truth was, she was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

"I think I'll be better off here, I'm just really tired" she explained.

"No worries, I understand, just… here" he said handing her a piece of paper "It's my number, please call if you need anything." She nodded "I will."

Finn left, it was now her, Max and a growing baby. It was about mid-day, there was still a lot of thinking she had to do, a lot of decisions she had to make. She was avoiding it, and so she took a warm shower, she organized the things she had and lied down on the bed. Max snuggling right on her side and she doze off.

Outside in the streets of New York City, Finn was getting errands done as he walked past a tiny baby store. He walked back and smiled, he remembered the first time he bought his niece her very first teddy bear, on the window there was a pink teddy bear along with a book, showing the development of the baby week by week. He couldn't resist and he knew that she was scared, at least knowing how her baby was growing may bring comfort to her.

* * *

Three hours after he had left Finn came home to a quiet apartment, no Max running towards the door to greet him which was a surprise considering he always did. He left the bag on the couch and slowly walked towards his room, only to see Rachel fast asleep with max cuddled right next to her tummy. Finn knew this would make her smile, so he took out his phone and snapped a picture, not noticing the sound was on it startled max and he barked.

"Shhh Max it's just me" Finn whispered trying to get him to shush so he wouldn't wake Rachel up. But it was too late, she slowly opened her eyes to meet his.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" he said.

"No, it's okay, I probably have been sleeping for a while now" she said sitting up "I just got here and I saw you were asleep, I thought I would take a picture" he handed her the phone, she smiled at the shot.

"Do, do you think he knows?" she asked.

"I don't know, or maybe he just really likes you?" she handed the phone back to Finn "Maybe, right max?" as the beagle jumped on the bed and laid on her legs.

"So uh, I brought Dinner if you're hungry" he said putting his phone in his pocket "I think I'm okay, thank you" "No problem, just shout if you need anything" Finn said leaving the room.

Rachel grabbed her phone, she hadn't opened it since this morning, and to be quite honest she still held on to that bit of hope she had Gabriel would call or text her. But nothing, just a text from her dad asking how she was doing, if she didn't answer he would become concerned and just when she was about to reply she got a text message "Gabriel" popped up, her heart suddenly dropped and she was scared to read what it said _"I have your school stuff and other things of yours, you might want to come get them, I'm not home till 6, the key is where it always is…"_ It was vague, no sign of care, and the little hope she was holding on to wasn't there anymore. She looked at the clock as it read 4:00pm, she didn't want to go, but she needed her school things. So she stood and walked towards the living room, where Finn was watching Grey's Anatomy.

"Finn?" he turned around to meet her walking towards her.

"I, uh" she couldn't say what she wanted and so she just handed him her phone with the text message, Finn looked up at her "You want me to go with you?" he asked

"No, I'm sorry I just" he interrupted

"Rachel, I'm not letting you go back there alone" he said with a worried voice "Look I know we don't know each other, but I can't let you go there by yourself, please, let me come with you" in reality that was exactly what she wanted, she wanted Finn to go with her, but she was too scared to ask

"Thank you Finn, for everything" They both left the apartment and caught a cab to take them to her, well what used to be her house. When they reached their destination, everything from last night came back, as they walked towards the apartment she felt herself become anxious. She found the key and opened the door to the apartment, it looked the same, her school bag along with the rest of her things were right next to the front door, it was clear he wanted her to get the stuff and leave right away. Finn grabbed both of her bags and they locked the door.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a familiar voice to her exclaimed, she looked at Finn before turning around and seeing Gabriel's face.

"You get around quick" he was drunk, completely wasted.

"What do I know, I wanted to convince you to come back and let that thing go so we could be happy" he slurred.

"That's enough!" Finn yelled, Rachel was surprised at his action.

"Oh protective much, Oh Rachel are you even sure that kid is mine, it's his isn't it? you little slu-"

"I said that's enough, look I may not know you, and the only reason why my fist hasn't met your face yet is because you are drunk and even though you don't deserve it, that's your child, so out of respect for Rachel and the baby I won't lay a hand on you even though I really want to, but you disrespect her, and I'll make sure she never sees your face again" Finn grabbed Rachel by the hand, who was now in tears, he got her as far from him as he could before he stopped and realized what had just occurred.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay Finn, thank you for what you did" her voice full of emotion.

She wanted to be strong, she wiped the tears from her eyes. They took a cab back home, the ride was silent, Finn wasn't sure what to say but he hated the way Gabriel made Rachel feel. When they arrived home she took her things to her bedroom, Finn stood behind in the living room, he knew she needed space.

"I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry" she whispered placing both her hands on her stomach, "Mommy is strong, and so are you, we'll get through this together" She was holding the tears in, and she would continue to do so as long as she needed because she couldn't keep breaking down for someone who didn't love her. No matter how much she loved him, now her biggest priority was her baby. She walked out of her room while Finn was sitting at the dinner table scrolling on his phone.

"Hey, I just really wanted to thank you again for what you did Finn, thank you for not letting me go alone, I don't know what would have happened" she said as she sat down next to him

"No need to thank me, I'm glad you let me go with you, and I'm sorry I lashed out on him, I know he's the father of your baby Rachel, but I couldn't let him talk to you like that" there was a moment of silence.

"Are you hungry? I brought Italian from a place down the street" he said breaking the silence that empowered the room, Rachel smiled and nodded.

They sat together in silence for five minutes and Finn was wondering if he should break the silence that was overwhelming the room, but on his attempt to start a conversation his arm gently tapped his cup and all you saw were Finn's hands flying all over the place in hopes he wouldn't let it spill, but too much his luck it did. Rachel was so amused at the situation that her laughter filled the room. Finn let the liquid continue spilling as he stopped to take in the sight of her. Rachel quickly regained composure and sought out a paper towel to help clean the mess.

"Thank you, I swear I'm not always this clumsy" he giggled, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

"If you say so" she smiled. They both sat back down and continued with their dinner but the tension between them had subsided a bit.

"Tell me something good" Finn burst out without even acknowledging of what he had said; Rachel gave him a look of confusion

"Uh… I should probably explain myself" he chuckled as he nodded to himself.

"When I was a little boy, I was that shy boy who had a little more trouble than others making friends, my mom would always tell me to ask them to tell me something good, something about them so I could get to know them" he grinned.

"So Rachel, tell me something good" Rachel looked down at her plate.

"I want to become a Broadway star" she said with those eyes of sadness.

"Oh so you sing?" he asked "I do, I'm actually a theater arts major at NYADA, which is why I needed my school things" she explained.

"So Broadway huh? I better be invited to your first show" he joked and she only smiled at him.

"So what about you, tell me something good" as she took a sip of her water.

"Well, I love children, I'm a private school teacher" he left the table to reach for a frame on the bookshelf and showing it to Rachel

"That's my class on a field trip last year, I teach kindergarten" he said as he put the frame back

"You're a great teacher huh?" she asked but already knowing the answer "I like to think I am" he said sitting back down.

A moment of silence passed by before he broke it once again.

"I-I have something for you" he stood from his seat grabbing the bag from the kitchen counter and gently placed it in front of her, Rachel gently opened the bag and found a book, there was a mother holding her baby bump on the cover, she saw a book mark on one of the pages and so she turned to it "That's how big your baby is" he looked down at her in awe.

"I, wow Finn, Thank you!" she said with a single tear on her right eye "She's so little" she said as she looked up at him. And she couldn't help herself and embraced him as he welcomed her. She didn't think how much she needed to feel close to someone, to feel supported and taken care of until right then. But Rachel pulled away and gave Finn the widest, most grateful smile.

They both cleaned up, and they were now sitting on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy, about three episodes in and a lot of chatting about how emotionally draining the show is, their conversations became quieter and quieter as Finn realized she had fallen asleep. He didn't want to wake her up, but he also didn't want to leave her on the couch, as he was sure it would be uncomfortable, so he took the jump and went for it. He gently picked her up as she moved a little in her sleep, he took her to her room and laid her on the bed, throwing a blanket over her and turning off the lights. It was about 9:00pm now, he still had lesson plans to write and things to get ready, so he decided to work on that waiting for sleep to take over, which would take a while to do so.

* * *

Two lesson plans later it was now midnight and sleep was calling his name, so he left everything where it was, grabbed a glass of water and headed to bed. As he was walking to his room something caught his attention. He moved closer to the door to hear heavy breathing and mumbling and he became concerned, he knocked on the door and called her name but there was nothing. He knew if he left he wouldn't be able to sleep, but he also didn't want to invade her privacy… but what if something was wrong? He turned the door knob and slowly pushed the door open to reveal the girl tossing and turning, mumbling words he couldn't put together so he placed the glass of water on the night stand.

"Rachel, Rachel wake up" he placed his hand on her shoulder, she only grasped his hand and let out a "Don't leave" he knew she was talking about Gabriel.

"Rachel, it's me, Finn" he said as she shot her eyes open "It's okay" he said as she sat up. Finn's only instinct was to move closer to her and wrap her in his arms and so that is what he did.

"Let it go, let it out" he whispered as he hugged tighter and that was all it took for Rachel to fall apart, for her to let out was she had been bottling inside since they encountered Gabriel back at the apartment. She yelled in agony and Finn just held on tighter to her.

"Just cry Rachel, I'm not going anywhere"

And that is how they stayed, until she fell back to sleep. Finn only stood watching the peace of night take over her. He quietly walked out of the room, slowly closing the door behind him. He took a look at his phone, opening it to the picture he had taken of Rachel and max.

"I won't let anyone ever hurt you ever again, I promise you" and so he went to bed.

Finn thought he would change her life, but little did he know that each minute that went by she was changing his… for the better.


	3. Just Keep Swimming

**A/N: Well hello hello! I'm not even going to try and create excuses for myself because I could have very well updated before I went back to school but I didn't and for that I am really sorry. However, it was hard to try and update after I was already in school because the workload of this semester was just crazy. I hope you all are doing well and everyone has had a great few months since we've last visited this story. I don't know how many people have stayed and are going to continue this journey with me. I am out of school for a month and although I can't promise a chapter every week I'll try my best to upload as much as I can throughout the break. I try to keep the beat of the story going with time jumps and if it's too slow I apologize, this is the first time I really write something like this and I'm trying to create a timeline as to how things will work but hopefully I'll get the hang of it.**

 **You guys know the drill, I don't own Glee or their characters just the plot and the characters I create throughout the story.**

 **Thanks for coming back to this little journey of mine! I hope you enjoy and wish you all a Merry early Christmas!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Just keep swimming

 _So take a deep breath,_

 _Pick yourself up,_

 _Dust yourself off,_

 _Start all over again – Frank Sinatra_

It was now Sunday; two days after Finn had caught the girl in his arms who was now living under the same roof. He didn't regret any of it, in fact, he was thankful he had been the one to bring her help. Most of the time Finn was alone in his apartment, of course with the company of Max. He would have thought it would feel weird to have a stranger around, but it felt right. He really didn't know how to explain it but it was like it was meant to be. These thoughts would flood his mind throughout the morning he spent lying in bed staring at the ceiling. He thought about just how beautiful she looked in his arms, how delicate her skin was when he wiped the tears away from those big gorgeous brown eyes, how perfect she fit in his arms. But that quickly changed, he had to get the thoughts out of his mind. She was having a baby, a baby with someone who hurt her and he was sure the last thing she wanted was a relationship, especially with someone who she just met.

* * *

Across the hall from him Rachel sat on her bed, trying to figure out what was next. She still had half a semester to go, she also had a job to keep… a job in which she would be forced to have to interact with Gabriel once in a while since she worked with his friends. Decisions had to be made, for the wellbeing of herself but most importantly her baby and stress was something she was told to avoid.

That surely won't happen if she has to encounter the person who has constantly hurt her the most. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear her phone ringing right next to her. It was one of her coworkers, more precisely Gabriel's best friend.

"Rachel, hey um do you think you can come by for a bit this afternoon?" Anthony said something in his voice that Rachel didn't like.

"Uh, yeah sure thing, I'll be there around three" and so she hung up.

She had a feeling, that she really didn't like and for a moment she had the thought that Gabriel would be waiting for her and she was honestly scared. She was startled by a gentle knock on her door "Come in" she said quietly.

"Morning" Finn said with a smile on his face "Good morning" she replied, giving him a smile in which she knew he would be able to tell that something was wrong but he didn't.

"How are you feeling?" he asked moving closer to her.

"I'm okay" she said, not giving him eye contact, which now told him she wasn't okay, but he didn't want to overstep his boundaries as he felt that's all he's been doing since she's got here.

"Want breakfast, I promise I won't make bacon" he laughed as a giggle from Rachel followed.

"I have fruit, we can try and see if that's okay" he smiled

"Thank you" as she nodded "I, um… I have to go to my job this afternoon, Anthony called and said he wanted to see me" Rachel said as she played with the ring on her index finger

"Who's Anthony?" Finn asked, immediately noticing he had probably overstepped his boundaries once more. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me," he said with a nervous

sound to his voice

"It's okay Finn, he's Gabriel's best friend… I work for him"

Finn suddenly started to panic to himself, what if this was a setup? He didn't want to worry her unless she mentioned something.

"I'm just confused, I work tomorrow afternoon, I don't see what can't wait for tomorrow" she said with a nervous look on her face.

"Okay, look it's probably nothing, why don't we have breakfast and then we'll see what happens next okay?" He tried to get her to calm down a little.

They had breakfast as Rachel helped Finn clean up "Are you going to go, you know to your work?" he asked

"I guess so, I can't just not go, what if it's something important?" she said biting her lip.

"I'm just-"

"Worried that I'll find Gabriel there? Yeah me too Finn, but I can't hide from him, I have to move on" she didn't really know if she truly meant that or she just said it to try and reassure herself that everything will be fine in the long run.

"I'll be okay, I'll call you if anything happens" as she made her way towards her room to get ready and head out.

If Finn was being honest, he really didn't want Rachel going there on her own, he was worried there would be an encounter just like yesterday's and this time she could get physically hurt, it was obvious he still wanted to be with her, the only thing keeping him away was the baby and Finn was scared he would try to do something. But he couldn't ask her to go let him go with her, she said she would call if she needed him.

She made her way to the Diner, thoughts ran through her mind of what could be waiting for her when she got there, she was praying it wasn't Gabriel, last night Finn had been there to protect her but now she was alone. When she reached the Diner she looked at her surroundings nothing seemed different, she made her way inside greeted by Liz and Ronnie, her coworkers.

"Rachel, hey girl what's up it's your weekend off!" Ronnie said bringing Rachel into a hug

"Uh Anthony called me over, not sure exactly what for but I'm here" she giggled nervously

"Well he's in the back if you wanna head over" Liz kindly stated

Rachel took a deep breath and walked towards the back, preparing herself for whatever it was, having this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Anthony?" she asked in a quiet voice as she saw him walking towards her

"Oh there you are, I'm glad you came by, please sit!" he said giving Rachel a chair and sitting himself down in front of her. "I know you work tomorrow, but I'm afraid that won't be possible," he said looking into her eyes

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion

"Gabriel told me that you guys are expecting a baby and that it's an at-risk pregnancy, which means I can't keep you here, this would be no help to your condition"

Rachel looked at him "Wait, what?" she exclaimed "Gabriel and I aren't even together, he kicked me out, he doesn't want this baby and as far as I know I'm okay" she stood from her seat, maybe just a bit too fast and caused her to become light-headed

"Wow, Rachel, sit" as Anthony helped her back down "You see, Rachel, you're a great employee but right now your baby should be what matters the most to you" as Anthony walked to grab her a glass of water, Rachel remembered she would call Finn if she needed him, and she really did, but she was too stubborn to make the call.

"Look, I'm really sorry but I can't keep you here," he said quietly

"Gabriel is asking you to do this because I won't let him kill my baby he wants to make my life miserable, is that it?" she was getting worked up

"I don't know what happened between the both of you, but that is what he told me and well Rachel I can't risk them closing down this Diner, is my only income" There it was, she knew it all along "It's okay, it's not your fault… Thank you for everything" as she made her way out through the back door.

Once outside she felt the cold hit her and took a deep breath as she tried to control all her emotions. Her phone rang and she noticed it was a call from Finn, it was like

God knew what she needed at that moment.

" _Rachel, everything going okay?"_ Finn asked worryingly through the phone

" _No, not at all and Finn I don't know what to do"_ She tried to explain in tears

" _Is he there, did he hurt you, Rachel I'm on my way tell me where you are"_ Finn was getting worked up at the idea of Gabriel doing anything to Rachel

" _No, no it's okay, he isn't here, you don't have to come"_ she tried to soothe his worries

" _You don't sound okay"_

" _I'm on my way, I'll explain everything okay?"_ she said quietly

" _Okay, please be careful"_ Finn pleaded before he hung the phone.

Finn sat in the living room, twirling the phone in his hands while waiting for Rachel to come home, he heard the keys and saw the door open as he quickly stood from his seat as fast as he could. "Rachel?" he said as he saw her standing there as she closed the door. Rachel offered him a weak smile wanting to just run to his arms but she froze at the feeling of having her world slowly breaking apart.

"Rachel?" he called again as he slowly moved closer to her. "I lost my job" she silently said with a knot in her throat.

Finn moved quicker and rushed to her side and put his arms around her. "What happened?" he asked as she just cried in his arms, she slowly pulled away from his arms and walked over to the sofa to sit down.

"Gabriel, he told Anthony that my pregnancy was at a high-risk and that I couldn't be moving around and what not… but in reality Anthony would get his restaurant shut down if he didn't let me go" she whispered while she dried her tears "So I'm unemployed, in school and with a baby on the way who's father wants nothing to do with him or her" she said as she brought her hands to cover her face.

Finn felt anger, like now he really wanted to punch the guy in the face for everything he was putting Rachel through. Finn walked over to the sofa and had a seat next to her, he didn't touch her he just looked at her trying to find a solution to this. "Look, I know that this isn't a solution to anything but at least know that you have a roof and food here and well… our company" he weakly smiled as Max approached Rachel

"Thanks Finn, but I can't just be here for free, I have to help you in some way" she whispered as she patted max's head and he barked, she smiled.

"Okay, if you really want to help me, how about you let me try and see what I can do" Finn offered, he didn't know what exactly he meant but he knew that there were some spots opened in his school for secretary or things she could do that wouldn't require so much physical work. "I'll help you, I promise" Finn whispered as he gently squeezed her knee in sign of comfort.

* * *

Monday came quickly rushing in. Both him and Rachel had some time to just get to know one another. She had helped him around the house and she had even helped him with his lessons and creating activities for his students, they had sat together and while she worked on homework he made his lesson plans and graded papers.

Finn had set his alarm for 5:00am to give him time to get ready and make Rachel some juice to take with her to class. He slowly and quietly made his way out of his room and although he wanted to peek in on her and see if she was okay he restrained himself from doing so. It wasn't right although he found himself already having feelings towards her, and although he wasn't the type to ever fall so fast due to past events, Rachel was different. He shook himself out of his thoughts and gathered everything "Take care of Rachel bud" he whispered as he poured Max breakfast in his bowl and made his way out the door.

Rachel woke up about two hours after Finn had left, everything was so quiet. She made her way to the bathroom and took a quick warm shower before she needed to head to class. She was afraid of leaving the little bubble Finn had created for her during the past few days, but life kept going and so she had to run along with it… she did and the baby she was caring. She walked out of her room as Max quickly went to her and wiggled his little tail in happiness of her sight. "Good morning Max" she giggled as she walked towards the kitchen. She found a note on the fridge

" _Made you and your little one a healthy juice to take to class, I hope you have a good day and don't forget to call if you need anything… I'll see you later-Finn"_

She smiled from ear to ear at the note and gesture. He was really one of those rare to find anywhere guys. She knew any girl would be lucky to have such a great guy like him… she wished Gabriel was like this. She found herself lost in her thoughts and shook them as she saw the time "Alright baby, let's give you some breakfast and then we'll go to class" she smiled as she gently rubbed her belly.

Rachel made her way to class as she took in the city, she loved to live there, it had always been her dream to and she loved to wake up to it everyday. She made her way through her classes and handed all her assignments. The class she was most worried for was her dance class, for once she didn't want to let anyone know she was pregnant for the other she didn't want to risk her babies life. Her dance teacher adored her and she was one of the nicest teachers she has had so far but she was scared. Either way, Rachel made it through her dance class and was ready to head home… she smiled at the thought of home.

She walked back to Finns apartment with her headphones listening to music and one hand on her belly while other held her phone. She felt like things can maybe be okay on her own… She walked in and Max greeted her right away "Oh hey buddy, is your dad not home yet?" she giggled as Max gave her a million kisses and jumped when she heard a voice

"His dad is home" he smiled "Hi Rachel" she stood and offered him a smile back. "How was your day?" he asked as he made his way to the kitchen.

"It was good, surprisingly good… yours?" she asked as she put her bag down on the floor "It was good, the kids loved the activity we came up with last night, thanks for that" he smiled.

She walked towards the kitchen "Thanks for our juice this morning, I can tell you someone really enjoyed it" she giggled

"No problem, just making sure he/she grows up strong and you get the vitamins you need" he said as he sat down on the table "We can order dinner? I don't usually come home so late but Mondays are sometimes hectic" he whispered

"I'm fine with whatever you pick, I'll just go and put everything down" as Finn nodded and watched her walk away, he could tell she was really tired. He ordered from the place down the street from his apartment, it was healthy and still delicious for Rachel and her baby. He made her a tea while he waited for the food to arrive.

Rachel sat down on the bed and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was really tired, she laid down on the bed for a few seconds as Max laid right next to her. She closed her eyes and didn't even feel herself fall asleep.

When the food arrived, he called Rachel over but she didn't respond, so he walked to her room, her door was opened when he saw her all curled up on her side and Max right next to her. He knew it from the start that she was exhausted. He smiled as he saw the sight of his favorite best friend and the girl that was slowly but surely becoming someone important in his life, he slowly walked in and grabbed the blanket he saw on the chair and gently covered her with it, she jumped at the feeling but didn't wake up. "Sweet dreams" he smiled as he closed the door.

About three hours later she woke up and was startled at the time, "Oh no" she whispered as she sat up and Max jumped "We fell asleep didn't we" she giggled as she stood from the bed and stretched. She walked out of her room and found Finn on the table reading a book.

"Hi" she whispered as he lifted his head

"There you are" he smiled "I ordered dinner, I saw you fell asleep and didn't want to wake you up, I'll warm it up for you!" he said as he was about to stand "No, it's okay… thank you I got it" she whispered shyly. She sat down on the table as she unconsciously watched him read. When she was done she made sure the dishes were all put together before leaving the room "I'm going to go and do homework, if you need me I'll be there" she smiled as Finn nodded "And I'll be here"

She turned music on silently in her room and she took out her books and did her homework, she truly couldn't wait to be done with the semester and focus on her baby and finding a job for that matter. She wasn't sure how she would manage a job, school and a baby but she knew that she had to, she had no choice. When she was done with her homework it was about midnight, she put everything away and walked over to the window, as she looked down she saw people still walking and cars… the city that never slept. She sighed as she remembered when she first moved to New York, from her room in NYADA she could see everything and she was just in awe of the speed that everything took. She wished she could go back to that time where everything just seemed so perfect, now it just seemed like she was growing up at the same of the city. She placed her hands on her belly and even though she was happy to know that such a tiny person can bring her so much love she didn't know she had, she was still terrified. She didn't know how her dads would react, what the future held… a year away from graduating a baby who was not about to take a pause to let her complete the one thing she thought she had figured out.

"I don't regret you, I hope you know that" she whispered "Mommy is just a little scared, scared because she wants to make sure you have everything you'll need, that you are surrounded by nothing but love" she took a seat on the chair next to the window

"You know that I don't know exactly where we are going… and I don't know what I will tell you when you ask for your daddy, but I love you more than anything in this world, and I will make sure that nothing or anyone hurts you. That at least I am sure of" she smiled as tears dropped from her eyes

"I have you, and you have me, and well, when life gets us down you wanna know what we've gotta do?" she smiled as she lifted her shirt to uncover her bare belly, she still wasn't showing but she gently placed her warm hand on top of it "Just keep swimming" she whispered as she looked up at the ceiling and tears streamed like a waterfall.

* * *

The week went by smoothly, or what you would call smoothly for a girl whose body was changing by the second. Rachel and Finn got to know each other a lot more, they would take Max out on walks together when she would get home, they would pick dinner up or simply just stay home and talked. It was like they had known each other for a very long time, they got along well and she was happy, for the first time in the last few weeks she was genuinely happy, things seemed to just be falling into place with Finn… and she didn't know if that was such a good thing or bad but for now, she just let it go and let it be.

It was Friday and she would never have thought she would be so thankful for the weekend. She headed home after a long day at school and she just wanted to lay down and fall asleep. When she walked inside the apartment she was greeted by Finn and Max sitting on the couch watching football "Hi" she smiled as she walked in "Long day" she whispered as Max ran to her. Finn stood from the sofa and walked towards her taking her bag. "Come sit" he mysteriously said as she confusedly looked at him but did as she was told. She sat down and waited to see what was going on "Close your eyes" Finn whispered as he walked over to the kitchen and picked up a bouquet of flowers with a congratulations balloon. He gently placed the flowers in her arms as she opened them and was surprised "I.. what is this for?" she looked at him in awe.

"Well I told you I was going to help you right?" he smiled "Well, Congratulations Ms. Rachel Berry, you just got yourself a job"

Rachel quickly stood from her spot "What, where, how?!" she asked as her hands shook

"Assistant secretary at the school I work in" he smiled "They are looking for someone to work just a few hours in the afternoon to help out in small things after school and I mentioned your name and well the principle was happy with the word I put in from you"

Rachel didn't know what to say, he had helped her in so many ways she didn't know how she would repay him.

"Of course you'll need to go in yourself and talk with her, but the job is yours" Rachel walked over to him as her tiny self pulled him into a hug "Thank you, thank you so much" she started to cry as she just clung to him not knowing she was doing do. Finn placed his arms around her and hugged her tight as he noticed that she was crying. He pulled away a little and dried her tears

"Don't cry, you're a hard worker from what I can tell and you needed this, well you really didn't" he smiled knowing he had told her she really didn't need to work "but you wanted a job and well I just helped" She looked up at him "I don't know… I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you, for this and for everything you've done since you found me" she whimpered as she looked down.

Finn brought his hand and slightly lifted her head by her jaw so they were face to face "I know how… by taking good care of yourself and your baby" he said as she hugged her once more.

That night Rachel laid in bed as she looked up at the ceiling and a million thoughts ran through her mind. Her life had crumbled down and was slowly feeling like it was being rebuilt all under just a few weeks. There was something about being with Finn that made everything just fall together, but she didn't want to make that a habit. She knew that she was having someone else's baby and that he could never take on the responsibility of taking care of him/her and he would never lay his eyes on a broken girl like her, he had his life together, the last thing he needed was for her to try and come into it. Something in her heart told her that Finn was different and she knew it, she just didn't want to let those feelings out into the open… after all, it was all fairly new and although they have gotten to know each other a lot, it didn't change the fact that just a few weeks ago he was just a stranger. But even if that was a fact, she wished a million times that Gabriel loved her the way that Finn did… even if they were just friends, there was something about the way Finn treats her and cares for her that never begins to compare with the way Gabriel did. Maybe it is just because she's lost and broken that he feels sorry and he is doing all of this. But at the end of the day, it just felt right, she just hoped it wasn't wrong.


	4. A Beautiful Melody

**A/N: Surprise! It's me again! Bet you thought I wouldn't come back so soon… But I'm here! As promised I'm trying to write as much as I can before break is over, and although I still have a while I'm using every moment I get to write! This chapter was one of my favorites to write, especially the very ending!**

 **Same as before, I don't own Glee… you guys know how it goes.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **And if I don't see you soon… Merry early Christmas… again! Haha.**

* * *

Chapter 4: A Beautiful Melody

" _And I heard a heartbeat,_

 _which was the most beautiful music_

 _I have ever heard in my life"- Beyoncé_

A few weeks went by, everything was moving along… life, school and Rachel's pregnancy. She was now 7 weeks along and she couldn't believe just how much her body had changed in that time, she still wasn't showing but she honestly couldn't wait until she did… she just wanted to know what it will feel like to feel the bump and knowing that her baby is inside. However, she was a lot more tired, and her hormones were skyrocketing. She had begun working at the school after her classes and everything was going well. She was able to help Finn here and there although most of the time he rejected it nicely knowing that she needed it and her baby did too. He had gotten her the job not to benefit himself but to give her a sense of confidence that things would be okay, and somehow that is exactly how she felt.

* * *

She woke up on a Saturday morning feeling happy, the sun beamed through the window and she could just feel the joy inside of her. Things weren't easy still, classes were stressful, she was almost done though. She has been able to keep up with her dance classes although she has been extra careful to not make the wrong move and fall. She laid in bed that morning thinking of how things would work out for the next few months or at least what she hopes the next few months look like. She knew looking for a place on her own was probably top of the list, but that wouldn't be until she was out of school so that she could focus her time on that and finding a job to help her support herself and her baby. Her mind quickly changed route to think of Finn, she smiled. He was so sweet, caring and always so worried about her, she thanked the lucky stars to have found him, well more like fell in his arms that night. The last few weeks with him have been everything she had hoped it would have been with Gabriel, but that was far from reality. She tried to get herself to move on from him, but how could she? At the end of the day, the baby growing inside of her was half her, half Gabriel.

She ran her hand over her tummy a few times "I've got you sweetheart, it's you and me against the world… that I promise you" she smiled.

Finn would be out of the state for the weekend, he was going to visit his mom in Ohio. He didn't want to leave her alone, in fact, he had asked her to go with him but she refused. In all honesty, she was scared of what his mom would think about her and all this situation. She didn't want to put Finn through a more of an awkward situation. So she simply stayed, she promised him she would call if she needed anything and if she didn't feel good she would go straight to the doctors. She knew if she didn't he wouldn't have left, it made her heart happy to know he cared. But she didn't want to let it become more than just a friend caring for a friend, although easily she was loving the way he made her feel.

He had left that morning to the airport, as he walked through John F. Kennedy his thoughts were running a marathon "What if she needs something? What if she's in pain? What if she gets sick?" he tried to calm down as he was getting ready to board the plane, she had promised to call if anything and he would text her here and there to make sure things were okay. She had Max to keep her company and he made sure the fridge was fully stocked with healthy snacks and food. It was only for a weekend yet he was being extra protective. He looked down at his phone as he saw the time and knew he would leave soon. He didn't know why he was so protective of her, well maybe he did. The last few weeks with her had been the best, just getting to know the tiny brunette made him smile. He was trying so hard to not fall for her but everything she did, everything she said made her so much more perfect than he thought she was. Which is why he wanted to get away, at least for a day or two, to just get his thoughts back on track and get advice from his mom.

Rachel got out of bed and made herself breakfast, she already knew Max's schedule and she would take him out for a walk after. She made a cup of tea after she had a bagel and just walked over to the living room window. Her city, the city where dreams come true… and her baby was one of them, just maybe not the dream she would have wanted to happen first but it was still a dream.

"Wanna go out for a walk?" she whispered to Max as he wiggled his tail "I'll take that as a yes" she laughed. She got dressed in something warm as it was getting a lot colder outside.

Finn arrived at the airport as he saw his mom waving to catch his attention, right next to her Burt and his little brother Kurt. He smiled at the sight of his family, the only one missing was Veronica and his favorite little girl Sienna, but they were back in New York and hopefully soon he would get to see them and they would get to meet Rachel.

"Oh, sweetheart! You're home!" Carole smiled as she gave Finn a huge hug

"I am mom, I have so much to tell you" he smiled as he gave Burt a hug "Welcome home son!"

Kurt waited for everyone to give Finn their hugs as he walked towards him "You better tell me who the girl is!" he whispered in his ear, Finn just gave him a look "Nice to see you too little bro" he laughed.

"Why don't we go home and get you something to eat, we only have two days to catch up" Carole smiled as they walked towards the parking lot.

Back in New York Rachel walked with Max along Central park. She sighed when she walked along the path where she had met Gabriel, she would be lying if she said that part of her didn't wish she didn't meet him, but she didn't regret the baby… and for that, she was thankful to him for. Crazy for her to say but she would never regret the life inside of her, no matter how hard things got. She walked with Max along the park, he was a calmed puppy so she took her time to walk slowly.

"I see you're doing okay" she heard a voice from behind her as she stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Turn around Rachel" he called as Rachel slowly turned with her heart in her throat.

"What do you want?" she asked with a certain tone to her voice.

"I just wanted to know how you are? And how is… well you know" he looked away from her.

"I am okay, no thanks to you… and as far as my baby goes that does not concern you anymore" she said in a low voice with a sense of strength she didn't know she had.

"Look… we can still make things work Rachel, I want to be with you and you need me, let's face it… you don't have a job and you're living with a total stranger" he walked over to her slowly. The park was a bit lonely for a Saturday morning and suddenly fear reigned all over her body, she held on tight to the leash.

"The only thing standing between you and I is…" he gently placed his hand on her stomach and she could feel herself wanting to vomit.

"Don't touch me" she pulled away and slapped him "You have no right to touch me or threaten the life of MY baby" Max could sense something was wrong as he barked and got closer to Gabriel which caused him to back away.

"Fine Rachel… you want to make things hard for yourself then do it, just be ready to face the consequences, you'll never see me again but I'll never leave you alone" he hissed as he walked away.

She quickly walked to the apartment as she could feel tears in her eyes. She wished Finn was there but she wasn't going to call him, the last thing she wanted was to worry him and to be quite honest, this was her fight and no one else's. She reached the apartment and locked the door behind her.

"It's okay, we're safe now, mommy won't let anything happen to you" she put her hand on top of where Gabriel had placed his. She was scared, her hands shook as she tried to gain control of her emotions. She looked down at her phone, she wanted to talk to Finn but she stopped herself just as she was about to hit the call button.

Finn and his family had a nice lunch, Burt and Kurt had gone out to get some things done leaving Carole and Finn alone, which he much appreciated and needed.

"Alright sweetheart, what is it?" she whispered as she sat on the sofa next to him as he watched football.

Finn looked at his mom and thought if this was the right time "I… mom I need your advice" he sat up as he turned the tv off.

"Remember that night I Facetimed you and I told you I was at the hospital?" he asked quietly as he saw her nod in confusion. "Well… I met a girl" he swallowed.

"Oh sweetheart, tell me all about her!" Carole said with an excited voice

"Mom" he sighed "She, um… she fainted in my arms as I was walking that night… that's why I was at the hospital" he said quietly

"Her name is Rachel, she's the sweetest girl, and mom she's so beautiful" he sounded like an 18-year-old boy "She's actually at home… my house" he looked down.

Carole just kept looking at Finn confusingly "Well sweetheart why didn't you bring her here with you?"

"Because mom… she's pregnant" he whispered.

Caroled gasped "Finn…" he looked at her and quickly noticed her worry "The baby isn't mine… she um, she's in the same situation that Veronica was in, only I took her in to try and help her back on her feet for as long as she needed. But mom, I think I'm falling for her and I know it's not right… but I can't help it" he ran his hand through his messy hair.

Carole moved closer to him as she hugged him "Sweetheart, you have to be careful" she whispered "She's fragile and I think the last thing she needs right now is a relationship"

"I know mom, I know but, but it's just… if you saw her and met her you would see why it's so hard to not feel the way I do" he sounded helpless

"Well, sweetheart I can't tell your heart what to feel or stop it from feeling the way it does… But all I can tell you is to be careful, and just don't rush into anything, don't push her, she's hurt and I don't know how trusting she would be of anyone right now" she whispered "Just don't expect anything in return honey, I don't want you to get hurt, and I know you don't want her to get hurt" She kissed his forehead.

That night Rachel laid in bed as she just shook from the day's events. She was safe at home but she really wanted Finn, but she couldn't… she wouldn't. Instead, she looked at her phone and saw she had messages from him asking if she was okay and so she replied that she was as she fell asleep.

Finn had a lot think about, his mom was right… Rachel was fragile and probably was not looking for anything other than making sure her baby was healthy, but what if she would let him in? He wouldn't care that baby wasn't his. He would take care of him or her just like if they were, he would take care of her the way Gabriel didn't have the guts to. He wasn't going to push her though… he would just let things fall together as time went on and if it is what's meant to be then he'll be happy, but right now all he wanted was for her to be okay and feel safe, everything was still too fresh and he didn't want to push her away.

* * *

The next morning Finn took off back to New York, it was a quick visit, but spending time with his family just gave everything he needed to know to just move on carefully.

"I'm here sweetheart, anything you need just call… and tell Rachel I would love to meet her some time" she smiled as she kissed his forehead

"I'm coming to you in three weeks, so just be ready" Kurt joked as he hugged his brother.

"I'll be ready" he chuckled "I'll see you guys soon" and so he was off.

Rachel woke up that morning and didn't want to leave her room. She was shaken up by his threat and she was scared that he would try anything against her baby. She knew that once Finn arrived he would know things weren't okay but she just couldn't help herself feel the way that she did. She spent that morning in her room as she locked it to feel safer.

When Finn got home Max greeted him with barks and tail wiggles "Hi boy" he smiled "Had fun while I was gone?" he whispered as he was met with silence… he was concerned but she was probably resting in her room "Did you take care of Rachel while I was gone?" Max barked as Finn dropped his bag and made his way to Rachels room. He gently knocked on the door and she jumped at the noise

"Rachel?" he asked as she sat up "Come in" she whispered. Finn tried to open the door but it was locked. He suddenly became concerned at the fact. "It's locked… is something wrong?" he whispered as she quickly stood to unlock and open it.

"Hi" he whispered as he was met with her once again, he could tell that she had been crying… he swallowed hard.

"Rach?" he whispered "Is something wrong?" he asked again

Rachel looked at Finn and shook her head as she looked away from him.

"Rachel, you're scaring me… please don't hide from me" he whispered as he remembered what his mom had said, to not push her… but she looked so scared.

"I'm so scared" she whispered, she wanted to run to Finn but she stopped herself, so he moved closer "Why? Did something happen while I was away?" he gently asked.

"I took Max for a walk… and I ran into Gabriel" Finn could feel his blood boil at the sound of his name.

"Did he hurt you? Did he say anything to you?" he tried to keep calm.

"He, he said that I would never see him again but that he'll never leave me alone," she said with a knot in her throat. Finn moved closer and hugged her, Rachel felt like she could finally just break down because he was there and so she did.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here, I'm not going to let him hurt you or your baby" he whispered trying to soothe her fears. "Did he hurt you? Physically?" he swallowed afraid of the answer.

Rachel kept quiet for a few seconds "He didn't hurt me… but he did put his hand on my belly" she replied. Finn tensed at her answer "Okay, it's okay… Never again okay?" he whispered as he looked into her eyes and saw a sense of calmness fill them…

They spent the day together as they walked Max and went to get some lunch. When they came back home he spent time with her as she did her homework and he worked on a few things for his class. He looked over at the calendar they kept and saw that she had an appointment on Tuesday for her ultrasound and he smiled

"Are you ready to see your baby?" he smiled as he saw her vision focus on him "I'm nervous" she whispered "But I can't wait to see him or her" she smiled as she got quiet for a few minutes.

"I… wanted to ask… if you would come with me?" she said silently looking down "You don't have to, Sorry I just" she stopped herself knowing she probably just did something she shouldn't have.

"No… I'd love to" he whispered "I'll be there for anything you need" he whispered as he offered her a soft smile; her eyes glowed.

That night she went to bed a lot less scared and happy. Finn was going with her to meet her baby, she didn't want to think too much into it, but she was really happy that the person who has gotten her through would be there at the first sight of her baby, butterflies filled her tummy "I know baby, we're going to meet you soon" she smiled

* * *

Monday went by so slow. She went to school and turned in her paper she stayed late writing last night. When we got to her dance class she was completely beaten and exhausted, her dance teacher noticed the sudden change in her behavior and how reserved she was while dancing.

"Rachel, come talk to me after class," her teacher said quietly while she approached her. Rachel could only nod as she knew that it was time for her to speak up.

Class went by and she still made sure that her movements wouldn't cause an accident that she would regret. She put on a pair of leggings and her sweater before heading to talk to Karen, her dance teacher. As everyone left the room the two were left together and she swallowed hard as she got closer to her.

"Rachel, I've noticed that you aren't giving your all to the dances we have done in class. did you injure yourself?" she as nicely

"No… I'm okay," Rachel said not making eye contact. Her teacher grabbed her hand "Rachel it's just us, I just want to know… your behavior has changed and I'm worried" Rachel only nodded and she knew that she had to speak up now.

"I… I'm pregnant" she whispered

"Oh honey" her teacher hugged her "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" she asked as she took Rachel and sat her down on the bench.

"Yeah, I'm okay and she is too… I just didn't want to make the wrong move and fall" she explained feeling a little bit more confident.

"Rachel" she sighed "You should have told me from the start, we could have been more careful" she whispered "This stays between us okay? If you feel like you're moving too fast slow down, come tell me… but best of all make sure you check with your doctor if this is safe for you and your baby" she smiled as she tugged on Rachel's hand "I know how tough school and a baby can be… I've been in your shoes and there's nothing more that I would have wanted than to someone to reassure me that it will be okay… so I'm telling you that it will be okay" she smiled as she stood and left the room.

She went to work that day feeling drained from every bit of energy she had, Finn waited for her on Mondays or more like he didn't have a choice because he had so much to do. Either or they always went home together on Mondays. She made her way to his classroom after she was done and found him hard at work behind his desk

"Mr. Hudson?" she giggled as she entered the room.

"Rachel" he gasped in surprise "You haven't seen my classroom, have you?" he asked as he stood from his desk. "Well, welcome to 201, Mr. Hudson's classroom" he chuckled

Rachel walked around as she admired the way he had everything so organized "I can tell you absolutely adore your job" she smiled "I love it" she looked around "Maybe someday you'll have a Berry sitting on one of these desks" she smiled as she brought her hands to her belly.

"Oh I'm not sure that would be a good idea" he joked "He or she may be my favorite student and they are still in their mommy's belly" he giggled as she smiled back at him.

"Has this been your class for a while?" she broke the silence as they kept their eye contact.

"It has, ever since I began teaching" he smiled "I've made it to fit my students… it changes every year… we have a superhero theme going this year" he grinned as he showed her the class superheroes, he was in the middle

"I think my favorite one is the one in the middle" she giggled "He looks familiar" she smiled.

"Thank you" she whispered as she broke silence again "For this and for everything else you've done… I don't know where I would be right now if-"

he got closer to her "There is not if's… I'm here and I'm happy to be helping you" he smiled "Why don't we get going and get ready for your big day tomorrow?" he suggested as he went over to his desk, picked up his bag and walked over to her making sure the lights were off and the door was locked.

* * *

The big day finally arrived, she woke up that morning feeling like the happiest girl in the world. "Mommy is going to see you today" she whispered "Mommy loves you so much already, you're such a blessing to my life" she dried her tears as she heard a knock on her door. "Come in" she smiled as Finn opened the door holding breakfast with a rose

"Good morning" he smiled "Ready for today?" he asked as he placed the tray on her bed

"Thank you, you really didn't have to do this…" she looked at the rose and took it

"I know, just wanted to make sure that today started off great, eat up so we can get going" he smiled as he left the room.

She sat there for a minute smelling the rose. She again found herself lost in the thought of how great Finn was. She shook herself out of her thoughts once more, today was her baby's day and that's all that mattered in the moment…

She had her breakfast and quickly took a shower. She wore something comfortable as she let her long brown hair fall on her shoulders "Let's go" she whispered with a smile as she ran circles on her belly.

Finn and Rachel made their way to the clinic, she was nervous but yet so excited to finally see her baby and make sure that everything was okay. She sat down with Finn as she filled out papers, she got to the father section of the document and she swallowed hard. Finn tried not to look, he didn't want to intrude in her personal life like that although he felt like he had already done that.

She filled as much as she could remember from his side of the family but didn't put his name down. She handed the documents back to the woman in the front and just waited until they would call her back. She saw couples walk in and out, holding hands and happy to be having a baby… she looked down at her shaky hands wishing that was the case. She let out a sigh as Finn looked over at her "You okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah… just, a bit overwhelmed" she answered with a smile.

"You'll be okay, I promise" he smiled back.

"Miss. Rachel Berry?" a nurse asked as she waited at the door for her.

Rachel swallowed hard before she stood. Finn looked up at her and smiled "I'll be here waiting" he nodded to reassure her. She hesitantly walked over to the nurse as she took her to the exam room… Rachel felt alone as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Here's your gown, I'll give you a second to get dressed and the doctor should be in" she smiled as Rachel nodded. When the nurse closed the door, Rachel just let out a silent cry, this is not how she pictured it, alone in an exam room, first ultrasound. She was supposed to reach for his hand as they both saw their baby for the first time. She got out of her clothes and put on the gown as she laid looking at the ceiling.

After a few minutes she heard a soft knock and she jumped from the sound "Hi Rachel, I'm Dr. Melanie Lynn, but you can just call me Melanie" she smiled "Ready to see your baby?" she asked as Rachel swallowed hard and gently nodded.

The doctor saw the expression in her face "Everything will be alright… but is there anyone here with you we can get?" she asked as Rachel sat up.

"Finn" she whispered "He's out there waiting for me… can you get him… please?" she said almost in tears.

The nurse walked out into the waiting room "Finn?" she called his name, he was lost in thought of how things were going. Deep inside he wished he was in there but he knew that it would be too much, that would be pushing it, and he didn't want that. He shook out of his thoughts when he heard his name as he quickly stood "me, it's me" he whispered

"Come with me" she smiled as she lead him into the exam room. "She's really nervous and she asked us to get you" Finn nodded as he opened the door and was met with Rachel in tears.

"Hey, hey, I'm here it's okay" he whispered "Don't cry, I know that this is not what you would have wanted, but you gotta be brave… and see your baby for the first time" Finn ran circles on her back to try to get her to calm down.

"I'll be outside the room, I'll come in right after you're done" he whispered as she just held tighter to him "No… please, stay," she asked, almost begging; she didn't want to do this alone

"Sorry," she pulled back "If you want to" she whispered as she laid back down still crying.

Finn gave her one of his half smiles as he reached to dry her tears "I'll stay…" he smiled as he just stood next to her and watched the doctor come in.

He wouldn't tell her that he was dying to be next to her, to be present at the moment she would get to see for the first time the life that was growing day by day inside of her. He felt so lucky and honored to get the chance to be there next to her.

"Are we ready?" Rachel smiled and nodded. "Okay, this is going to feel a little cold"

The nurse applied jelly to her belly as Rachel placed close attention to the monitor. "There" the nurse smiled as she pointed at the screen. Rachel's eyes lit up as her eyes got watery "Mommy, meet your baby" Rachel unconsciously reached for Finn's hand as she held tight to it "Hi little one" she said in tears "Mommy loves you" she cried as she looked over at Finn and saw him in awe staring at the screen.

"Everything looks great mommy, give me just a sec" the doctor continued to run the transducer on her belly as a sound played on the monitor. "And that is your baby's strong heartbeat" Rachel smiled as tears ran down her cheeks, the beautiful music that played from the monitor was the most amazing thing she had ever heard. She held tight to Finn's hand as he looked down at her "That's your baby Rach" he smiled as he wiped the tears from her eyes….

In that moment, Rachel made a promise, a promise that he or she would be the number one person in her life, that he or she would never cry the tears she was crying now. That they would never know what it feels like to feel so alone and scared. That their mommy will do anything and everything to protect them from any evil in the world. That he or she would always know they were and will always be important… That everything she did from that moment on would be for the precious life that was bringing back the fire that once burned in those big brown eyes of the tiny, strong yet fragile brunette.


	5. One Thing After Another

Hello! It's been literally year… I hope that this surprise finds you all well! I'm finally done with school! I graduate in a month! But that is not the reason I've been away for so long. I've gotten so many messages to update and honestly, I stepped away from writing, I had this chapter written for a very long time but I was not really happy with it until recently that I made some changes to it. I don't want to leave this story unfinished, I am very proud that it has gotten this far. I plan to make changes to the timeline, but there's so many ideas in my head and I want this to be perfect! I'm on break now, I don't know if I will be going back to school yet but I am planning to, so in the mean time I already started writing the next chapter. I hope that I still have readers out there, and if I do I will continue and take it to its end.

As always, Glee characters do not belong to me but the plot and all other characters were created by me :)

I hope you all enjoy and as always leave me feedback on what you think. Until next time and Merry Christmas!

* * *

 _There's more to me than what's outside._

 _It's cruel to tell me how you feel and expect for me to deal,_

 _with the sting you left behind…_

 _Sentimental Memories -Lea Michele_

It had been six weeks already since the time she had the chance to hear her baby's heartbeat for the first time, the day played vividly in her mind over and over as a smile appeared on her face, she had gotten to hear her baby's heartbeat again during the last six weeks, she was so in love with the music that played each time, letting her know that he or she was doing just fine all snuggled in her belly, safe and sound. She was now 12 weeks, entering the end of her first trimester and she couldn't be happier. Her symptoms weren't as present as before, though she was nauseous every once in a while, but nonetheless she was happy. Her and Finn had grown closer, he would always be so caring of her, making sure she was okay and had everything she needed. She continued going to class, making sure her assignments were done on time while keeping her job after school. It worked well because they would come home together after the long days, and it kept Finn at ease being the one to bring her home, he didn't like when she came home late on her own.

With her first trimester almost coming to an end she felt a little better and at ease that the chances of miscarriage were a lot lower, she always walked with Finn in the afternoons and tried to keep a balanced diet. The cravings were now increasing a lot more, she had a sweet tooth for chocolate and Finn remembering that would always bring her a treat whenever he passed through her favorite sweet shop. Everything was going by smoothly, for the first time in a very long time things were okay, not perfect but okay and that is all she could ever ask for.

* * *

Finn walked in with a little girl in his arms that Saturday morning, she was sound asleep as Rachel walked out of her room

"Finn, we can't just bring random children home from running errands" she joked with a laugh. Finn couldn't help but laugh, it felt so good to see her smiling and happy after everything she has been through.

"I know, I know, but she's too adorable!" he laughed "She's sleeping, but Rachel meet Sienna Alice Hudson" he smiled as he fixed the three year old in his arms

"Alright Finn, why do you have to walk so fast!" Veronica tried to catch her breath as she came inside. Rachel stood back, this was the first time she ever met anyone close to Finn.

"You must be Rachel Berry" Veronica smiled as she went to hug her, Rachel embraced her "Finn hasn't stopped talking about you, I thought it was finally time to meet you" she chuckled as Finn gave her a look "What? I'm not lying" she laughed.

"It's nice to meet you Veronica" Rachel smiled "Your daughter is beautiful" she whispered as Finn put her down on the couch

"She's also a trouble maker" Veronica laughed "She's my mini me, along with having Finn's goofy side" she smiled

"She's not waking up anytime soon, I'm going to get us lunch, Ver, want to come with? You know much more what she likes than I do" Finn smiled as Rachel gave him a look, she was sure there was no way they would leave her with Sienna.

"Um, if it's okay with Rachel? I feel like I know you already from everything Finn has told me" she smiled "She won't wake up, she just fell asleep, we won't be too long" Veronica whispered as Rachel just nodded, she swallowed hard as she looked at the toddler on the sofa.

Finn walked over to Rachel as Veronica made her way out, "You're okay, she won't wake up" he touched her cheek "Are you sure? Finn I…" she paused as he took her hand "It will be okay, I promise" he smiled "We'll be right back" he whispered as he grabbed his wallet and made his way out. Rachel nervously stood for a minute as her hands shook while she looked at Sienna, praying she wouldn't wake up while both Finn and Veronica were out.

Rachel sat on the couch, she was keeping an eye on her so she wouldn't fall in case she rolled over but other than that she was calmed. It had been ten minutes since they had left when Sienna started to wake up, Rachel felt her heart pounding and prayed she would go back to sleep "Mama?" she looked up at the ceiling "Finn?" she sat up as she rubbed her eyes and looked back at Rachel, "Mammeeee" she whimpered, Rachel didn't know what to do, she felt like panicking but she knew that if she did Sienna would too.

"Hi pretty girl, I'm Rachel, I'm your uncle Finn's friend" Rachel smiled calmly "Mama and uncle Finn went to get lunch, they'll be back soon" Rachel tried as Sienna just looked at her, Finn had shown her pictures of Rachel so she was familiar with her.

"Achie?" she tilted her head as she moved closer to Rachel "Rachie?" she giggled "Yes, I'm Rachie, and you must be Sienna, it's nice to finally meet you" Rachel held out her hand and Sienna gently touched it and giggled.

Rachel felt a bit more calmed once Sienna cuddled close to her, she turned Peppa Pig on for her to keep her entertained. Sienna lifted her hand and softly placed it on Rachel's tummy "Baby" she whispered as she looked up at Rachel for her reaction. Rachel looked down at her "Yes, there is a baby in there" she smiled as Sienna grinned and just gently padded as Finn and Veronica walked in.

"Mammmeeee!" she giggled as she got off the couch and ran to them

"You woke up silly girl!" Veronica caught her and snuggled her "You probably scared Rachel baby" she whispered,

"She was okay, I think she was scared at first but it was like she knew who I was" she whispered as Veronica winked "Didn't I tell you all he does is talk about you" she laughed as she went to the kitchen.

They had lunch together, it was nice having company, Rachel never got to be with anyone other than Finn. Not that she mined but it felt nice having people around, especially Sienna who was such an energetic and happy girl, just like Finn had first described her when they arrived from the hospital. Once lunch was over, Finn helped clean up as Sienna played with her toys.

"So, Finn tells me you're having a baby?" Veronica asked her softly as Rachel gave her a smile. She would usually be uncomfortable to talk about the situation with anyone, but something made her comfortable about his sister, it felt like she could be trusted.

"Yeah, twelve weeks to be exact" Rachel smiled.

"Well, you're in the best place you could ever be" Veronica whispered, "It sure was my safe place for the year and a half I lived here" she said quietly. "Finn was and still is my guardian angel here on earth" she smiled "He helped me so much, that's what a brother should do but… but it was different" she whispered as she put the dishes away.

"I had Sienna on my own, my boyfriend at the time didn't want kids" she paused "So he just kicked me out, I didn't know what to do and if it wasn't for Finn I don't know what would have been of my baby and I" she whispered as Rachel just looked down "You're safe here Rachel, I know that this may not be what you want, we all dream of our baby be with the person who we thought loved us" she whispered "But unfortunately it doesn't always go the way we plan" she sighed as she sat down. Rachel sat in front of her

"Does it ever stop hurting?" she asked quietly with tears in her eyes as Veronica reached for her hand

"It does Rachel, it just takes time" she whispered "You're not alone though, you have that beautiful baby growing inside of you, Finn, God that boy loves you" she laughed "Now you have me, we gotta stick together, I know that you can do this" she smiled as Rachel nodded "Thank you"

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon together, they went outside taking Max out for a walk. By the time Rachel and Finn got back it was dark out and she was exhausted.

"Tired?" Finn asked as he took his shoes off and sat on the couch

Rachel just nodded as she sat on the other side "I never knew I could get this tired" she whispered "And this is only the beginning" she smiled as she touched her belly

"I'll get you some water" Finn smiled as he stood "Sorry about my sister" he chuckled as he poured some cold water in a glass and walked back over to Rachel.

"Thank you" she smiled "But for what?" she whispered as she took a sip

Finn shrugged "You know…" he blushed

"It's okay Finn, I promise" she smiled "I think I'm going to head to bed, it's been quite a day" she whispered as she stood "Thank you, for everything" she smiled as hugged him and made her way to her room.

She let out a smile as she sat down on the bed, this had been such a great day but the fact that Finn talked about her to his sister all the time made her feel butterflies in her belly and she couldn't hide it. He was so caring, from the moment they had bumped into one another that day to now. Everything he did for her just made what she felt for him grow by the second, but she wasn't sure if it was a good thing, after all she was still hurt, she felt broken although little by little Finn was helping the pain go away. She didn't want to hurt him, but she also just loved the feeling he gave her. She couldn't though, couldn't place the responsibility of a child that wasn't his, it wouldn't be fair to him. She laid down on the bed and wished there was someone who would tell her falling for Finn was okay, but she was alone apart from him and now Veronica. She had her dads but she hadn't talked to them in a very long time, not because they didn't love her, but because she was scared to tell them what had happened. She took a bath to wind herself down and went to bed.

Finn sat on the living room, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Every day there was something new that he fell even deeper for. He tried not to, he didn't want to pressure her into anything because he wasn't sure if she was ready, if she would ever be ready to trust someone else with her heart. Although he had the best intentions he knew that things had to take its course. They had over three months together, enough for him to see how amazing she was, but he knew that she needed time and that she may not feel what he did, he didn't want do anything that would ruin their friendship as he valued it so much. He locked the apartment up and made sure everything was okay before he too went to bed.

* * *

The next few days went fine, they had their routine during the week, school, work, home, sleep, and repeat. It was Thursday, they sat together watching Grey's anatomy as they did every Thursday. Her phone rang as it sat on the coffee table and she looked at Finn in confusion. No one had that number, the phone was new and the only contacts she had were Veronica and Finn. She grabbed the phone and gasped as she looked at the number, it was her dads.

"What's the matter Rach?" he asked as he sat up and looked at her, she looked pale and he could tell she was scared

"My dads" she whispered as her hand started to shake. He took her hand

"It's okay Rachel, you don't have to answer if you don't want to" he whispered but it kept ringing

"I have to" she sighed, it had to be done sooner or later. Finn just looked at her and held her hand, he wanted her to know she wasn't alone and that no matter what she would never be. She weakly smiled at him before she pressed answer.

"Hello?" she whispered into the phone

"Rachel Barbra Berry, where have you been honey!" Hiram talked on the phone first

"Where are you sweetheart?" LeRoy asked, she looked at Finn and took a deep breath.

"I'm okay, I promise everything's okay" she whispered

"Do not lie to us, we know" Hiram said firmly as she felt tears in her eyes

"What do you mean?" she whispered as she tightened the hold on his hand.

"We know you're pregnant" they both said at the same time "Why didn't you tell us? Gabriel had to come and beg us to reach you… sweetheart why did you do that to him?" she looked at Finn confusingly

"Wait what?" she whispered, "Whatever he told you is a lie" she started to cry "He kicked me out when he found out we were having a baby!" she cried "I bet he didn't tell you that part" she whispered as she tried to calm down.

"The baby isn't his Rachel, we know the baby's father is the guy you are with now, how could you do that… we raised you better!" Hiram called out.

She didn't have words, she felt like her world came tumbling down, like the bit of happiness she felt during the last few months was being taken away from her.

"You believe him but not me?" she whispered "I'm telling you the baby is his, he kicked me out, he abandoned me and his child!" she cried "I can't believe you two" Finn got closer to her and put his arm around her

"You're a disappointment to us Rachel, we gave you everything for you to go to school in New York to make your dreams come true and this is what you do, get pregnant and even worse cheat on your boyfriend who hasn't done anything but love you… we thought you were better than that" LeRoy said through the phone

"No… I thought you two were better than that, don't call me ever again" she hung up the phone and threw it across the room as she let out a loud sob. Finn only hugged her tighter, he didn't ask what they had said, he just held her.

She hid in his arms and just cried, she couldn't believe that her own dads turned from her, believed the person who had hurt her so much instead of their own daughter. She felt herself get nauseous as she freed herself from Finn's arms and ran to her room "Rachel" Finn called as she ran, he ran behind her but stopped when she closed the door to her bathroom "Rachel, I'm here" he whispered, he didn't know what to say or do, he didn't want to upset her more. After a few minutes she opened the door and walked out, Finn looked at her, she was pale and he could tell she was tired as well.

"They believed him" she whispered as she curled herself on the bed "They said I was a disappointment" a tear fell from the corner of her eye.

"Rachel you know that's not true" he whispered as he kneeled next to her bed and let his face be at the same level hers was "You know the truth, you've worked so hard to be where you are now, Rachel you are more than what they think of you" he sighed as he wiped her tear.

"How could they do this?" she whispered "They believed him, I'm alone Finn" she cried as she hid her face from him.

"No you are not, I'm here remember, I've got you and as long as you let me I will always be here for you" he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair.

She didn't say anything, he kept his action going until he felt her fall asleep. He sat there, just thinking of what had happened, how much damage one person could do to another and be completely okay with it. He wanted to take all the pain away from her, he hated seeing her upset because he had finally seen how beautiful it was to see her smile, to hear her laugh… and it all went downhill in a matter of seconds. He made sure she was completely asleep before he stood, he grabbed a blanket and covered her with it

"It's going to be okay Rachel, I promise" he whispered before he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

He went to bed, not really being able to close his eyes. Thoughts were running without coming to a stop which he desperately needed, but the way Rachel had been broken down over and over by people who she trusted made him furious. How something like this could happen to such an amazing sweet girl didn't made sense in his mind, though they always do say that the worst things happen to the best people. He was finally able to close his eyes and fall asleep, Rachel still in his mind but knowing that as long as she was there with him she would be safe, he would make sure of it.

* * *

Rachel woke up in the middle of the night, she couldn't sleep and as soon as her eyes opened she came to sense of what had happened. The pain of their words was unbearable as she began to believe everything they had said about her. She stood and walked over to the window in her room, the lights and people still walking around at this time always gave her a sense of comfort, it was her favorite place in the world after all. Not this time though, she was desperate to start new, start again in a place where no one knew her story, a place where no one knew her name though that had once been her biggest dream. Everyone to know who Rachel Barbra Berry was and to see her name in shining lights, now dimmed. Tears started to flood her eyes thinking of everything, from the day she found out she was pregnant to now, Finn being the best thing that had ever happened to her. But she couldn't do this to him, she couldn't hurt him the way she had hurt so many people including herself. She pressed down on her belly as a weak smile came to her face, feeling that reminded her that there was someone she needed to fight for, someone who deserved everything from her, including a new beginning. She let out a sigh before she walked over to the desk and grabbed a pen and paper. She never thought leaving would be something so hard for her.

 _Dear Finn_ , she wrote as she tried to find the words to say goodbye.

 _I just want to start by thanking you, for running into me that night, to be honest with you I don't know where I would be if you hadn't._

 _The last few months, you have shown me the real meaning of a gentleman, even when I was once a total stranger to you, you took care of me and my baby and I will never know how to repay you for this. Though I knew this day would one day come I didn't think it would be so soon. I have to go, start somewhere new where no one knows me, no one knows my story. My baby deserves to be somewhere that he or she isn't reminded of the people that left us, this hurts because you haven't done that, you've cared for us when you didn't have to. But I don't want to hurt you Finn, that is all I do to the people around me and I would hate myself more than I already do if I did that to you… so I'm leaving, but I am taking the memory of the most amazing man I have ever met in my life, of you. Thank you because you brought happiness to my life when there was none, because you were there to hear the beautiful sound of my baby's heartbeat and you held my hand through it all. I hope that one day you can forgive me for just leaving out of the blue, but it would hurt a hell of a lot more if I did this with you in front of me, honestly it would be impossible for me to do it. I hope that one day I can run into you again, hopefully in better circumstances. I wish you nothing but the best in your life Finn, thank you for everything._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Rachel._

She placed the letter in an envelope and just wrote _I'm Sorry_ on it. She quickly got her things together in the bag she once had carried with her on that dreadful night. The heartache she felt was painful, it was like she was leaving her safe place, but she needed to in order to protect Finn from any pain she could cause him. She slowly and quietly made her way out of the room, making sure not to wake up Max who was sleeping with Finn. She smiled as memories of all the times they had spent together in the apartment came flashing by, the memories she would hold on to forever. She opened the door and took a deep breath before she took one step and then another one until she was eventually outside on her own. An immense amount of fear struck her and memories of that night came crashing in. She started to walk, with absolutely no direction.

Finn woke up a few moments later, Max whining at the door "What's the matter bud?" he rubbed his eyes and stood. He opened the door and Max ran for Rachel's room "Max no, you're going to wake her" he sighed as he went after him, to his surprised finding only a note. Panic immediately took over "No, no" he repeated as he took the note. Tears flooded his eyes as he read word by word and felt the pain she was in. He ran to get shoes on, taking his keys, wallet, and cell phone with him as he went out, not knowing where to start to look for her.

"Hi, have you seen this girl around here?" he said to multiple people out by his apartment as he showed them their picture, it was dark and hard to distinguish someone.

"Rachel?" he called out for her as he walked around the apartment, repeating her name over and over and praying she would answer to him, praying she hadn't gone far. He can't lose her, not with how he felt about her but most importantly because she was pregnant and emotionally broken.

She walked around, by the second she realized the mistake she made by leaving without a plan. She looked down at her phone and as soon as she went to unlock it, it died. "We have to go back, I don't know what I was thinking" she sighed, turning around and letting out a scream.

"NOOOO!"


End file.
